{"id":705291,"date":"2026-04-08T13:38:20","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T13:38:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/705291\/"},"modified":"2026-04-08T13:38:20","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T13:38:20","slug":"what-jayson-tatum-said-about-his-madison-square-garden-return","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/705291\/","title":{"rendered":"What Jayson Tatum said about his Madison Square Garden return"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBoston Celtics\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t“Last time I played there, obviously it was a traumatic experience for me.”<\/p>\n

\"Jayson
\n\tJayson Tatum Danielle Parhizkaran\/Globe Staff\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCeltics\u2019 Brad Stevens addresses \u2018tiresome\u2019 college basketball rumors\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGiannis Antetokounmpo paid high praise to Celtics\u2019 coach Joe Mazzulla\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

The last time Jayson Tatum<\/a> suited up for a road game at Madison Square Garden, he crumpled to the floor writhing in pain after rupturing his Achilles tendon while chasing after a loose ball.<\/p>\n

The injury ended Tatum\u2019s season and deflated the Celtics<\/a>\u2018 hopes for a title defense.<\/p>\n

Now, roughly 11 months later, Tatum is set to return to Madison Square Garden for the first time since the injury occurred. The Celtics will travel to New York for a matchup with the Knicks on Thursday night.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, I\u2019ve thought about it,\u201d Tatum said. \u201cI\u2019m not like thrilled to go back and play there. Last time I played there, obviously it was a traumatic experience for me. Obviously I knew that I would have to get over that hurdle and play there again. It\u2019s going to have to be this Thursday, I\u2019m not thrilled about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut, it\u2019s part of it. I decided to come back and play. So, I\u2019m not like skipping certain games. I can\u2019t play back-to-backs right now, but I decided to come back and play so it\u2019s just another game on the schedule.\u201d <\/p>\n

TV cameras showed Tatum in tears shortly after the injury as he rolled down a hallway in a wheelchair. After a lengthy recovery process, Tatum felt good enough to return to the court last month. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt seems like JT is in a good spot,\u201d Celtics guard Jaylen Brown said. \u201cHe\u2019s playing good basketball, rebounding the ball, handling those physical drives. He looks more explosive than he had in those first couple of games. I think he\u2019s trending in the right direction.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know, mentally there could be something, but that\u2019s what your teammates are there for. We\u2019ve got his back. We\u2019ll go out there and do what we\u2019ve got to do.\u201d <\/p>\n

Tatum\u2019s recovery has been a smooth one for the most part. His shooting touch is still a work in progress, but he\u2019s averaging 10 rebounds per game for the first time in his career. His assists are slightly down from last season, but so are his turnovers. <\/p>\n

His presence on the glass, defensive versatility, and ability as a scoring threat have all made him a valuable addition to the lineup during this final stretch of the season. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think the entire process leading up from Day 1 after the surgery put him in position to be able to do that,\u201d Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said. \u201cJust how he approached the entire journey. The people around him put him in position to be where he\u2019s at now and it all goes together, how he approached that day, how he approached recovery, how he approached every step of the way that he\u2019s taken.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe did it with a lot of hard work and diligence with Nick, and his family and great people around him. I think that kind of set him up to be where he is now and really to be even better in the future.\u201d <\/p>\n

Tatum said previously that the team\u2019s success while he was out was part of the reason he decided to come back this season. <\/p>\n

The Celtics will likely enter the playoffs as the No. 2 seed, the same position they were in last season. A second-round playoff rematch with the Knicks isn\u2019t out of the question. <\/p>\n

But first, the Celtics have to close out the regular season and gear up for the opening round which starts next week.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust ramping up at the right time,\u201d Tatum said. \u201cKnowing that post All-Star break is pivotal for teams really trying to compete for a championship. And you want to be physically feeling your best as a unit, playing well together, clicking on all cylinders. And this year is no different.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been playing extremely well going into the playoffs up to this point and knowing that we\u2019ve got a few games left to feel really good about ourselves and then find out who we\u2019re going to play.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\"Profile\t<\/p>\n

\t\tKhari A. Thompson<\/a>Sports Reporter\t<\/p>\n

Khari Thompson covers professional sports for Boston.com. Before joining the team in 2022, Khari covered college football for The Clarion Ledger in Jackson, Miss.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGet the latest Boston sports news<\/p>\n

Receive updates on your favorite Boston teams, straight from our newsroom to your inbox.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Boston Celtics “Last time I played there, obviously it was a traumatic experience for me.” Jayson Tatum Danielle…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":705292,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3766],"tags":[7,45,75,3798,46,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-705291","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-boston-celtics","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-boston","10":"tag-boston-celtics","11":"tag-bostonceltics","12":"tag-celtics","13":"tag-nba"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116369367025016626","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/705291","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=705291"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/705291\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/705292"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=705291"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=705291"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=705291"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}